Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Map of northeastern corner of Nagorno Karabakh where much of the intense
fighting occurred between Apr. 2-5. Due to Az. artillery fire, Arm. side
evacuated residents of Talish, Madagis and Mardakert. Solid white line
running from upper left to bottom right is the Line of Contact.

Prepared by Emil
Sanamyan.

All times local for
Armenia and Azerbaijan, 1 hour ahead of Moscow and 8 hours ahead of EST.

April 2, Saturday

01:15 - NKR President
Bako Sahakyan consults with his top military and security
officials after first reports of Azerbaijani deployments. Initial assessment
was that these deployments did not signify a large-scale attack, but a
smaller-scale action typical of last two years. The meeting was dismissed but
Defense Army commander Gen. Levon Mnatsakanyan remained at work to watch the
situation.

02:30 - At least three members of Azerbaijani
special forces team killed during an attack on a military post 140 in Talish-Madagis area, in the northeastern
corner of Nagorno Karabakh; their bodies remained at the Armenian post.

03:00-04:00 Sargsyan,
then Aliyev fly from Washington after international nuclear security
summit.

03:20 - For the first time in 22 years, Azerbaijani
forces begin using artillery, including Grad launchers, to shell Armenian populated areas, including Talish, Madagis, the town of
Mardakert and nearby village of Nerkin Oratagh in the northeast and Mekhakavan and Araler in the south. Electricity was knocked out in the area as
missile fire also hit the Madagis HPP generator. An RT
video shows Azerbaijani Grad MLRS firing on April 2 from south
of Tartar. By morning, three Armenian military servicemen are killed by shelling targeting regimental headquarters in Madagis, others are wounded. In his April 4 press conference. Defense Army spokesman
estimated some 1,350 Grad-type missiles fired within an hour.During breaks in shelling, civilians evacuate civilians from Talish, Madagis and Mardakert, located just 3 to 4 kilometers from the LoC. Several thousand eventually evacuate and no civilian deaths have been reported from Azerbaijani missile and artillery fire in this area.

04:00 - Azerbaijani
forces launch attacks at frontline Armenian posts in Kazakhlar-Nuzger and
Alkhanli-Fizuli areas in the south, as well as Gapanli/Seysulan-Shotlanli,
Chailu-Madagis and Gulistan-Tonashen in the north. A post is part of the first line of defense of the Armenian Karabakh Defense Army; each post is typically manned by a 7-member squad with 2 servicemen as lookouts at any given time.04:15 - A video shot by an Armenian frontline observation camera subsequently published on youtube shows dozens of Azeri forces concentrating for an attack opposite posts 170-171 in Talish area. In subsequent attacks in Tapkarakoyunlu-Talish direction, Azerbaijani forces capture some twelve Armenian posts, several of which were returned in Armenian counterattack in the morning of April 3.

On
the south-eastern corner of Armenian-controlled territory fighting focused on Lale Tepe hill (center), just two

kilometers
from Iranian border (demarcated by Araxes river).

06:00 Azerbaijani forces capture five posts in Nuzger direction located on Lale Tepe hills; 19 Armenian servicemen are killed at posts #112 and #115 in this area, their bodies remained under Azerbaijani control. In Seysulan direction, one post was overrun, with 4 Armenian servicemen killed. That post #116 was recaptured by Armenian forces by 08:00; at least 18 Azerbaijani servicemen were killed in Seysulan area, most likely by Armenian artillery fire. 08:00 Azerbaijani forces begin launching armored attacks in Horadiz-Nuzger in the south and Kaziyan-Shurabad in the northeast.08:18 In the first public release about the escalation, Karabakh Defense Army reports on its web site about Azerbaijani offensive operations with the use of tanks, artillery and combat helicopters in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions; Karabakh civilian areas and military units hit by artillery fire; Armenian forces "having accepted the opponent's challenge, are engaged in defensive battles."

Web site of the Karabakh Defense Army was first outlet to report about the April war, about five hours after the first artillery attacks were launched overnight. The first Azerbaijani defense ministry report appeared several hours later.

09:10 Karabakh Defense Army reports an Azerbaijani helicopter hit in Gulistan area in the north of Karabakh around 0800. Later reports suggested that an Mi-8/17 was hit by Igla MANPAD and managed to land in Azerbaijani-controlled territory

Early in the morning Azerbaijani Su-25 aircraft are seen flying from Kurdamir air base towards Karabakh, but they did not engage targets on the ground. Later in the day, Armenian aircraft and helicopters reportedly fly out from airbases in Gumri and Erebuni, but also stay out of fighting.

10:00 According to FlightRadar data, Azerbaijani civilian flights resume from Nakhichevan and Baku after 4-hour delay.

10:25 Karabakh Defense Army reports Grad strike at 08:30, aiming at a military base near Zoravan / Martuni, killed a 12 year-old schoolboy and wounded two others; although Saturday, April 2 was a working and a school day in Armenia and NKR with the following Monday a day off.

11:00 In its first public statement on the fighting, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense reports Armenian artillery fire in Terter and Agdam districts; 1 civilian dead and 2 others wounded when their car is hit by Grad shrapnel; denies losing a helicopter.

12:50 Karabakh Defense Army reports continued heavy fighting in Horadiz-Hadrut and Terter-Mardakert directions, publishes photos of dead Azerbaijani special forces personnel and of Israeli-made ThunderB UAV that apparently crash-landed nearly intact in northern NK, claims two Azerbaijani tanks hit by Armenian forces in the south and one in the north. Says that around 12:30 a second Azerbaijani helicopter is shot down in southeastern direction. (On April 4 Bars Media Films talked to soldiers from the frontline post that shot down that Mi-24G; according to documents recovered from it, a day earlier the Kala-based Mi-24G no. 305 was pre-positioned in the town of Beylagan, 30km from LoC, and was tasked with hitting targets in the southeastern direction, up to 10km inside the LoC).

12:58 Russian president Vladimir Putin "calls for an immediate cessation of fire to avoid additional human losses," according to a statement circulated by his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

14:00 Armenian president returns to Yerevan, his office announces plans to hold a National Security Council session in the evening.

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry press release, issued in late afternoon of April 2 and since rescinded, exaggerated Azerbaijani territorial gains, including villages of Seysulan, Talish and Madagis which its forces had failed to capture.

17:00 Azerbaijani MoD press release claims control of Talish, Madagis, Seysulan and Lale Tepe hills near Iranian border, says 12 of its soldiers killed, confirms one helicopter shot down. Some time later the Azerbaijani MoD modified its press release to drop references to control of Talish, Madagis and Seysulan and referring instead to "heights around Talish." Subsequent Armenian media coverage from Talish and the heights, such as this PanArmenian photo report, challenged this claim, but confirmed that Azerbaijani forces managed to capture Armenian frontline posts northeast of Talish. As far the ruins of Seysulan in Mardakert district located along the Line of Contact, the attack in this area was reversed by morning of April 2. The Defense Army acknowledged Azerbaijani control of Lale Tepe; a video report made on April 7 showed Armenian and Azerbaijani forces digging new trenches in that area.

Azerbaijani social media
groups spread video and photos of severed head of 19-year-old army Pvt. Karam Sloyan , bodies of other dead Armenian
soldiers seen in frontline trenches. (According to a later report, Sloyan's body was recovered
when his Seysulan area post was recaptured, but the decapitated head was only
returned by Azerbaijani officials on April 10. According to later reports three
of 28 bodies of Armenian servicemen that were recovered were decapitated;
bodies of nearly all other soldiers exchanged by Azerbaijan were otherwise mutilated.)18:00 Azerbaijani forces capture post #170, northwest of Talish, with 4 Armenian servicemen defending it killed and others wounded.

18:50 Photos
are published of Azerbaijani special forces
servicemen killed in Talish/Madagiz area; Karabakh defense army says that in addition
to two helicopters throughout the day Azerbaijani forces lost two tanks and two UAVs in Mardakert direction and two tanks in southern direction; first video and photos
of the Mi-24G helicopter wreckage are published at 20:50. Also on April 2, an Armenian T-72 was hit and its crew of three killed in southern direction.

Officials in Iran's East Azerbaijan province report that several shells fired in Armenian-Azerbaijani artillery exchanges have landed on Iranian territory damaging local power supply, but causing no casualties.
Reservists gather in Stepanakert as partial mobilization begins among Karabakh residents. Additionally, thousands of volunteers - many of them veterans of the 1992-4 war - begin arriving in Stepanakert from throughout Armenia.

19:35 Karabakh Defense Army publishes drone
video and stills from over Seysulan frontline showing about twenty bodies lying along the frontline, as well as one apparently damaged armored de-mining vehicle or ИМР (click for youtube link). According to information subsequently gathered, Azerbaijani forces lost at least 36 servicemen throughout April 2, including 19 in Seysulan area (most of their bodies were collected after return to cease-fire) and most of the rest near Talish in the north and around Laletepe in the south. Armenian killed in action amounted to 35, 22 of them in the south.20:00 Sargsyan chairs the National Security Council meeting in Yerevan. In a televised portion he says that 18 Armenian servicemen have been confirmed killed and 35 wounded in the worst fighting since 1994, but that the Armenian military has "taken the situation under its control."Late on April 2, Azerbaijan television airs a national security council meeting with Ilham Aliyev congratulating the Azerbaijani people on the "great victory" achieved as a result of "crushing blow" delivered by his forces that day, "capturing more advantageous positions" along the Line of Contact. In the same meeting, defense minister Zakir Hassanov claims that Azerbaijani forces "captured villages of Talish and Seysulan" (which were not) and "heights in Horadiz direction" (which were). Hassanov also acknowledged [artillery] strikes against reserve Armenian forces in Agdere (Mardakert) and Matagis, claiming "huge Armenian losses."

Late on April 2 Defense Minister Hasanov told Aliyev that his forces had 'captured villages of Talish and Seysulan'. It is unclear if Hasanov himself was misinformed or if this false claim was made deliberately.

April 3, Sunday

Armenian special forces fighter holds epaulet of a Lt. Col. of
Azerbaijan, likely that of 52nd brigade cmdr. Murad Mirzeyev.

07:00 After intense overnight fighting Armenian special forces from Mardakert and Yerevan-based units push Azerbaijani special forces from 52nd brigade from key post #170. About a dozen Azerbaijani servicemen are killed and bodies of at least five of them, including brigade commander, remained under Armenian control. Subsequent efforts to recapture this key position resulted in additional heavy casualties among Azerbaijani special forces that apparently came under artillery fire. Armenian media reports, including Hetq.am, showed bodies of Azerbaijani SF personnel killed in vicinity of Talish.07:25 Karabakh Defense Army reports Azerbaijan resumed artillery fire and offensive operations in southern direction at 06:00.

11:35 Karabakh
Defense Army reports intense fighting ongoing in northeast NK
and near Araxes, says Armenian forces have pushed back Azerbaijani forces
in Talish area; reports that Azerbaijani forces lost 2 more tanks, as well as 1 IFV in southern
direction.

Midday: Journalists from
Yerevan (Civilnet, RFERL, Hetq, 168.am, Sputnik), Tbilisi (Rustavi2)
and Moscow (RT, Meduza.io, Kommersant)
that arrived overnight in Stepanakert travel to Mardakert; some of them
come under artillery fire and later return to Stepanakert. Meantime, other
journalists departing Yerevan in morning of April 3 are stuck
in a snowstorm in southern Armenia; with snow in the mountains,
it is raining in much of Karabakh foothills, also restricting combat
operations.

15:00 Yerevan
photographers Hakob Poghosyan and German Avagyan joined a group of policemen
from Mardakert going to Talish to evacuate remaining civilians there. In the
evening Hetq and Photolurepublish Poghosyan's images from
Talish of an elderly couple and their elderly female relative killed and their bodies mutilated. The killings are believed to be the
work of an Azerbaijani special forces group that was in the area in the morning of April 2; the same group is believed to have ambushed an army supply truck killing its driver and accompanying military
officer, decapitating them. Same group is likely to have attacked post #170 northwest of Talish later in the day. Avagyan - whose photos from Talish on
April 3 are here - and Meduza.io journalist Ilya Azar, who visited
Talish on April 6, noted that the house where the killings of civilians took
place was at the very edge of the village, closest to the frontline.
Italy's Sky TV interviewed Hakob Poghosyan about his
photographs.

Police, military and local mayor (on right) in Talish, mid-day on April 3. Photo by German Avagyan

16:25 Karabakh Defense
Army dismissed Azerbaijani MoD's claims of unilateral cease-fire and says that
fighting continues; adds that return to cease-fire is possible only when
the cease-fire line is restored to where it was on April 1.

Azerbaijani MoD confirms
three more of its soldiers killed; ANS
TV shows footage of Azerbaijani forces shooting down what they
believe is an Armenian drone. However, images of the drone look like an Israeli Aeronautics-made Orbiter drone used by
Azerbaijan rather than any of the drones known to be used by Armenia.

18:00 Russian Life News
TV crew is ordered to leave Azerbaijan after its report from
Tartar includes says that local residents are fleeing the Armenian artillery bombardment
and were unhappy with the fighting; earlier in the day the Life News crew also recorded a report from
Sarijali in Tartar district. A Georgian Rustavi TV crew was
also detained by local police while attempting to report from the area.

22:00 Buses with
volunteers, many of them veterans of the 1991-94 war, begin arriving in
Stepanakert; some of the volunteers are interviewed
by CivilNet.

According to information subsequently gathered, throughout April 3, Armenian forces lost 7 servicemen and 1 reservist, and Azerbaijani forces - at least 19 servicemen, including several senior Special Forces officers. Most of that day's fatalities on both sides were in Talish area. In the south, another Armenian T-72 was hit by an anti-tank missile with a crew of three killed.

April 4, Monday

One of the Harop drones brought down by Armenian forces.
Photo by NKRMil.am

04:00 In a later
interview, Defense Army Zu-23-2 AA gun operator described shooting
down a Harop UAV at about 04:00 on April 4; around the same time another Harop
drone was reported brought down by another Armenian
Zu-23-2 AA gun in the same area. Flight radar data from later in the morning
registered Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's Il-76 (AZAF8) transport plane
arriving at Israeli military base and departing after several hours; the same
Il-76 made another trip to Israel on April 6.

08:10 Karabakh
Defense Army reports continued fighting and exchanges of fire
using Grad MLRS and 152-mm artillery. At 10:45 Karabakh
Defense Army claims Armenian forces have "retaken the
initiative in the fighting," claims 3 Azerbaijani tanks hit in the north
and 2 in the south. As later reports revealed, throughout morning and mid-day of April 4 Armenian forces launched attacks, but were unable to retake a series of military posts captured by Azerbaijani forces northeast of Talish on April 2.

Media group (inc. RT) travels to Mardakert, comes under
artillery fire. An RFERL video captures an Israeli-produced Harop drone striking a target in Mardakert district. Among targets
hit by Harop drones was a bus with volunteers from Sisian area
standing at entrance to Talish, seven people on the bus are killed immediately or shortly after attack, two of the
injured died days later.

13:30 Karabakh Defense
army reports that Azerbaijan has for the first time fired from Tos-1A
MLRS reportedly in Talish area, but caused no significant damage; claims Armenian forces destroyed three attack drones.
Harop drones were used to attack buildings and military and civilian vehicles
in Talish-Madagis area, videos released by Azerbaijani defense ministry the following
day appeared to show Harop strikes on a
military facility in Talish and, possibly, three Armenian T-72s.

In Yerevan, Serge Sargsyan meets with ambassadors from OSCE countries; notes that Azerbaijani attacks included atrocities committed against elderly civilians, among them a 92-year-old female resident of Talish. Sargsyan also mentions "only a few minutes ago" the use by Azerbaijani forces of the Tos systems, recently sold to Azerbaijan by Russia. He calls for de-escalation and return to pre-April 2 positions, but claims Azerbaijani advances were limited to "200-300 meters." Later in the day, Armenian media carries two other reports with Sargsyan, on visit to military hospital in Erebuni and a church ceremony in central Yerevan, honoring soldiers killed in combat.

13:55 Karabakh
Defense Army reports continued intense fighting in the north
and in the south; says Azerbaijani side lost 3 tanks in Mardakert direction.
Since April 2, Az. side is estimated to have lost 14 tanks and 5 IFVs. Grad missile and 152-mm artillery fire
continues against Mardakert.

In the afternoon,
Armenian forces observe Azerbaijani armor build up along the frontline in Agdam
district. This video from Azerbaijani side shows at least
18 Az. tanks, 1 IFV and 1 armored recovery vehicle "moving towards Agdam." Armenian
artillery opens fire on tanks and other Azerbaijani positions. On April 6,
Azerbaijani service of Russian Sputnik news agency reported on damage to civilians in
Mahrizli, saying that "more than 100" shells and Grad rockets hit
villages of Mahrizli and Zangishali in Agdam district in the evening of April
4.

16:31 Russia's Life News claims some of the hundreds of
Azerbaijani citizens fighting for ISIS in Syria would join the fight
in Karabakh; the report followed the expulsion of the channel's crew from
Azerbaijan and was not otherwise substantiated. The following day Azerbaijani
government promised to arrest any ISIS members arriving in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's threat to bomb civilians, including in Stepanakert (Xankendi in Azerbaijani), was issued in three languages.

19:15 Azerbaijani
Minister of Defense publicly orders "preparations of heavy
missile-artillery forces for a strike on Xankendi area," the Azerbaijani
name for Stepanakert. Defense Army warns Azerbaijani military command
of a "painful response" if its threat
to attack Stepanakert is carried out. Later in the year, Armenian
Public TV reported that as of April 3, Armenian forces
were ready to launch Iskander, Scud and Tochka ballistic missiles at
Azerbaijani targets should Armenian towns come under Azerbaijani missile
attack.

19:17 The Russian
Southern Military District reports its Dagestan-based motor-rifle
brigade (1000 men, 300 units of equipment) holding snap exercises near
Buinaksk, practicing counter-insurgency tactics; those exercises
continued for several days.

22:30 A bus
with a group of journalists returning from Madagis to
Mardakert comes under artillery fire, no casualties reported.

23:30 Haqqin.az - a news
site controlled by the Azerbaijani president's office - citing its
"regional correspondent" claims the Azerbaijani forces had captured
Madagis, Karabakh MoD denies the report at 23:59, and no evidence
of Azerbaijani advance in this area is subsequently furnished.

According to FlightRadar
data, a Russian Il-76 flies to Yerevan via Azerbaijan and Iran.

According to information subsequently gathered, throughout April 4, 20 Armenian military personnel and 12 volunteers were killed in fighting, as were 30 Azerbaijani military personnel. Nearly all fatalities on April 4 were in Talish area.

April 5, Tuesday

08:35 Karabakh
Defense Army reports heavy artillery fire overnight, including
first use of Smerch MLRS in southern direction; Armenian MoD reports that
Tavush border villages came under fire.

10:00 Az. MoD says that
16 of its soldiers have been killed ‘in last 2 days’ for total of 31 killed. At
this time, exiled Azerbaijani journalists at Meydan TV and elsewhere publish names and photographs of some
50 Azerbaijani servicemen killed, in subsequent days that number would exceed 90.

11:45 Karabakh
Defense Army reports continued artillery attacks against
civilian areas in Mardakert and Martuni districts. Video published of
Armenian Osa-AKM crew hitting another Azerbaijani
drone, likely an Orbiter 2M.

14:00 Russian
president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov is cited as saying that developments in
Karabakh are causing "growing concerns" and that "energetic
efforts are underway" to address these concerns. Later in the day, Russian
media reports that Putin made calls to Aliyev and Sargsyan. Reports
surface that Armenian and Azerbaijani chiefs of staff generals Khachaturov and
Sadykov met in Moscow and agreed to cease fire.

Azerbaijani Smerch missile salvo hit an old Azerbaijani cemetery near the border with Iran. Photo by Sputnik Armenii.

14:00 During a media
trip to an Armenian artillery battery SE of Hadrut, no shooting is
reported. Report by Ilya Azar of Meduza; video report by RT. Reporters photograph Smerch munitions launched by Azerbaijani
forces that landed near Shukurbeyli, some 10 kilometers from the LoC and about
1 kilometer from the Iranian border. Later in the day, the Armenian Defense
Ministry's spokesman published additional photos of Smerch munitions that
landed in Karabakh.

14:44 RT reports that Karabakh
forces agreed to truce "since noon;" Azerbaijan confirms it had also ceased fire soon after.In Yerevan, President Sargsyan attends a funeral of an Armenian serviceman killed in combat. Later in the day, president's office reports that Sargsyan had departed Yerevan for a previously-scheduled visit to Germany that would last thru April 7.

Afternoon: After a 2-day media silence, Azerbaijani
TV shows Aliyev visiting a military hospital in Baku and later speaking to two dozen relatives of servicemen wounded in fighting; Aliyev says that a "crushing blow was
delivered against the enemy" and that Azerbaijan is ready to cease fire.

Throughout April 5, two Armenian and two Azerbaijani servicemen are subsequently confirmed to have been killed by hostile fire.

April 6, Wednesday

While the cease-fire
held generally, a media group visiting Talish heard some shelling in the area. Later in the day, the Karabakh defense ministry reported deaths of two volunteers that day, one near Talish and another in the southeast. Additionally, a medical emergency
vehicle was reportedly fired upon by an Azerbaijani tank near LoC as it was in the area
to collect bodies of tank crew killed days earlier.

Azerbaijan's first lady Mehriban Aliyeva is shown meeting with more than 100 female relatives of soldiers killed in combat; the press release acknowledges only 31 Azerbaijani servicemen killed.

7PM: Defense army reported an
Azerbaijani-launched UAV shot down in Askeran area. The Azerbaijani Defense
Ministry for its part reported that it managed to recover an intact
Armenian-made X-55-type reconnaissance UAV.

10PM: Shooting and
explosions reported in Stepanakert as an Azerbaijani drone
was reportedly brought down on city outskirts. According to NK military sources, this was the first recorded attempt by Azerbaijan to dispatch a UAV to over Stepanakert, some 40km from the LoC, and coincided with the OSCE Minsk Group diplomats' visit there.

April 8-10,
Friday-Sunday

After the sides agreed to exchange
bodies of soldiers killed in action and left on the battlefield and facilitate searches for those missing, remains of 21 Armenian and 13 Azerbaijani servicemen are
exchanged at Bash Karvend; Pvt. Sloyan's head was also returned, but heads of two other military personnel killed near Talish were never recovered. Nearly all of the remains of
Armenian servicemen came from the captured Armenian positions at or near Leletepe in
the south, all of the Azerbaijani remains were of special forces personnel
killed near Talish in the north. Dozens more bodies of
Azerbaijani personnel were collected from no-man's land, mostly near Armenian
positions at Seysulan and Talish.

Following a relative
hiatus in fighting, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces engaged in three straight
nights of artillery exchanges, using 122/152mm howitzers and BM-21 Grad
systems, as well as mortars; subsequently HALO Trust reported that parts of the
Mardakert district were hit with Israeli-produced M095 cluster munitions fired
from Lar-160 MLRS. The Armenian side reported two servicemen killed by hostile fire
on April 26. Azerbaijani's Defense Ministry did not report on its military casualties, but its Ministry of
Foreign Affairs claimed there were some. The shelling focused on an area
roughly up to 10km from LoC, as well as frontline positions. Armenian side
reported Az. attacks at Madagis,
Nerkin Oratagh and the town of Mardakert. Azerbaijan reported Armenian attacks in
Goranboy, Terter, Agdam and Agjabedi districts and civilian damage. Armenian military claimed civilian damage was due to Azerbaijani forces locating artillery
positions inside or near residential areas, publishing drone-shot
footage of Azerbaijani-controlled villages.

Casualties

Following exchanges of
remains of soldiers initially listed as missing in action (MIA), the Armenian
military's casualties for April 2-5 reached 62 military servicemen, 13 volunteers and 4 local civilian residents killed by hostile fire and
more than 120 wounded. The updated list of the
names of Armenian fatalities is published here.

The Azerbaijani defense
ministry did not release any additional casualty figures to 31 officially
reported on April 5 and never published a more or less complete list of its
casualties. But Meydan TV, Azadliq.info and Razm.info
collected information on some 100 servicemen killed in combat or missing (and
presumed dead) and four civilians killed by shelling between April 2-5. Since
the list was compiled primarily from public funerals reports, the real death
toll remains unknown. At least 42 of those identified were special forces
personnel, including chiefs of operations and intelligence for the Special Forces
Command, special forces brigade commander and his chief of staff.